Our Work: Y. M. M. I. A. Annual Conventions; Supplementary Reading Notes

OUR WORK.

Y. M. M. I. A. ANNUAL CONVENTIONS. Dear Brethren: — The annual conventions of the Y. M. M. I. A. officers will be held in August, September and October, 1906, on the dates named below Taylor — Monday, August 20. Alberta— Saturday and Sunday, August 25 and 26. Panguitch —-Monday, September 3. Alpine, Beaver, Emery, Juab, Malad, San Juan (at Bluff), San Luis, Hyrum, Sevier, Bannock (at Thatcher) —Sunday, September 9.

Kanab, Big Horn —Monday, September 10. Box Elder, Cassia, Granite, Pocatello, Teton, Ensign, Jordan, Nebo, Weber, North Davis — Sunday, September 16. •

St. George, Monday— September 17. Salt Lake, Pioneer, Liberty, Star Valley, South Sanpete, Wasatch, Utah, Cache, Woodruff, Oneida, Wayne, Uintah and South Davis — Sunday, September 23. Parowan —Monday, September 24. Morgan, Fremont, Bear Lake, North Sanpete, Summit, Millard — Sunday, September 30. Union, Blackfoot, Tooele, Benson, Bingham —Sunday, October 14.

St. Johns — Sunday, September 16. Snowflake —Wednesday, September 19. Maricopa— Sunday, September 23. St.Joseph, at Thatcher — Wednesday, September 26. Juarez — Monday, October 1.

Stake superintendents will please give special and immediate attention to the following items: 1st. Confer with the stake presidency — secure their co-operation and arrange for the conventions. 2nd. See that your ward and stake organizations are all complete and your class teachers selected before the convention.

3d. See that all officers and class teachers are notified, by letter or by personal visit if necessary to secure their attendance. 4th. Secure suitable hall or halls for the convention, where both the Young Men's and Young Ladies' officers may be accommodated, without interfering with he Sunday schools or the ward meetings. Consult with the Young Ladies' officers

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in regard to this. Confer with the officers of the Young Ladies and arrange for entertaining officers who come from a distance; and, if practicable, provide for

joint luncheon between sessions. 5th. Have all Sunday school teachers who are Mutual Improvement officers or class teachers excused from Sunday school classes to attend the morning session of the convention. This has been provided for by arrangement between the two Boards. 6th. Do not neglect to extend a cordial, special invitation to the stake presidency, high councilors, and bishops and their counselors to attend the convention meetings. 7th. See to it that competent persons are selected to treat the subjects at the convention and assign the topics to them in advance, and . call attention to the necessity of preparing the subject according to the outlines. 8th. Send copies of this circular to every ward president without delay. 9th. Hold at least one preliminary meeting of the stake superintendency, aids, and convention speakers, and discuss the convention subjects thoroughly and perfect all arrangements of the convention, in ample time before the date. Provide lights and janitors and seats for the places of meeting. In making these arrangements, care should be taken not to interfere with the sessions of the Sunday schools or regular ward meetings. Some settlement should be selected where the meetings can be held in some building other than that in which the Sunday school and ward meetings are held. Thoroughly advertise your convention throughout your stake; have frequent notice given in all ward meetings, Sunday schools and other gatherings, and have notice published in your local newspaper, in addition to individual notice, personal or by letter, to every Y. M. M. I. A. officer, including the class teacher. For the work of the Young Men's Associations, two meetings will be held, one at 10 a.m. and one at 2 p.m. In the evening, at the most convenient hour, a joint meeting will be held, to which the public may be invited. No program need be prepared for that evening meeting, except one or two musical selections. Members of the General Board will occupy the time. In case no visitors from the Board are present, the stake officers should be prepared to occupy the time in presenting to the public the advantages and outlines of M, I. A. work for the season and otherwise proceed with the convention work. The meetings will be conducted by the stake Y. M. M. I. A. officers, under the direction of the representative of the General Board, and the program will consist of the following: 1st. Officers, and officers' meetings. 1. —What means be an it to Indispensability of meetings. officer:

2. — Stake, Ward, separate, and conjoint meetings. 3. — Time of meeting. 4. —Monthly reports. 5. — Order of business for officers meetings, a. Roll call. b. Prayer, c. Minutes, d. Reports including plans and programs for regular meetings, e. Appointments, f. Miscellaneous.

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6. — Spirituality general initiative, enthusiasm, loyalty, and aggressiveness in ;

the work.

2nd. Class work.

1. — Senior and Junior text books, and how to obtain them. 2. — Class leader. Membership, including regularity, preparation, and de- portment.

3.— Order. 4. — Interest, including the need of kindling inspiration and inquiry. 5. — Instruction. Application. 3d. The Improvemrmt Era. a. Testimony of its value and use as a missionary, as a literary production, :

as a text book for preliminary exercises. b. How obtained. c. Slogan for 1906-7: 10,000 subscribers. d. Promptness in business matters. 4th. Missionary work.

1. —All specially officers called. 2. —Object of the work. 3. —Who should be labored with? 4. — Call attention to Elder Lyman's speech at annual conference. 5. — Management of the work. 6. — Monthly reports to be rendered by ward presidents and stake super- intendents. 5th. M. I. A. General Fund. 1. — Envelopes and distribution. 2. — Record of accounts. 6th. Supplementary reading. 1. — Preliminary programs. <; 2. Rasselas." This will be the literary study for 1906-7 and the text will be printed in full in the Era. 3. — 'John Halifax." These two books are recommended as light but 4. — "True '

to his Home." \

) ood supplementary home reading for the season. At the morning meeting the first three subjects will be considered, and the second three at the afternoon meeting. The stake superintendents will select for each topic the most competent person in the stake to present the subject, and two other competent persons in the stake to discuss it in all its bearings, after which a brief general discussion should be encouraged, at which all pertinent questions will be considered. Great care should be exercised to select the persons most suitable to discuss these subjects. The General Board has approved and authorized these arrangements and instructions,and expects that the local officers will zealously carry them out. We trust that you will make every necessary sacrifice to accomplish the work, and that no excuse will be offered on the day of the convention, but that every requirement will be met.

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These M. I. A. conventions, of all our gatherings for officers, are the most important, and should be made the big events of the year. Any neglect on your part will work an injury to the cause of the young people in your stake. This year's convention ought to be the best ever held. It will require work on your

part and that of your assistants to make this convention a grand success, but the good which will result will amply repay you for the effort, and we pray that the Lord will bless you accordingly.

SUPPLEMENTARY READING. Improvement Association officers will take notice that the General Board recommend three books for supplementary reading during the year; namely, Easselas, John Halifax, and True to His Home. The text of the first- named book will be publised in the Era, and is intended for study in the associations, exercises

to be rendered at the preliminary meetings. Each member should read all three of these books during the year, and especially make careful study of the one selected for that purpose. Rasselas was written by Samuel Johnson, in the early part of the eighteenth century, and deals with the vanity of human wishes. It is

a series of essays on the problems of life, through which runs a simple story, which serves to hold them together. The value of the book lies neither in the story, nor the solutions of the problems of life; but it is chiefly valuable for the wise reflections contained in many of its passages, and the excellent style in which it

is written. A place should be provided in the preliminary program every two weeks for a review of a portion of the story outlined, for that period, in the manual. Such review should be given by capable members, and should include: 1— Narration of the story. 2 — Explanation of the ideas advanced. 3 — Reading of the choicest passages. 4 — Criticism. John Halifax is a family story, very interesting, and is designed to encourage young men to overcome difficulties and to achieve success. It is an English

work; but it is not thought that young people will have much difficulty in understanding the conditions that surround young Halifax. True to His Home, by Hezekiah Butterworth, deals with the early life of Benjamin Franklin, being written in a most interesting and attractive style for boysand young men.

NOTES. Elder H. B. Crouch, who has served as superintendent of Morgan stake for many years, and done commendable work for the Y. M. M. I. A. , has been released from the position, and been chosen as first counselor to the bishop of the Morgan ward. He says: "The M. I. A. work has surely been pleasing, as far as I could accomplish it, and I have still a warm place in my heart for the M. I. A. work, and expect now to take hold of it in a ward capacity, and wish it great success."

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The stake superintendency of the Y. M. M. I. A. of St. Johns stake, Arizona, has been reorganized. Elder James W. Lesueur, who has efficiently acted as superintendent for a number of years, has been released on account of being appointed to another position, and Elder C. S. Love of Eagar, Arizona, has been selected to take his place.

Elder Joseph Folkman, stake secretary Y. M. M. I. A. of Blackfoot, reports that the series of summer lectures held by the Y. M. M. I. A. of that stake are very popular, the one held on the last Sunday of July being unusually well attended, room being at a premium, with many standing on the outside, while buggies lined the streets for some distance each way. The officers are highly elated over the success of these meetings. The speakers, so far, have been President Nephi L. Morris, of the Salt Lake stake; President Pond, of the Pocatello stake, President Ben E. Rich, of the Southern States mission, and Elder B. H. Roberts.

The officers of the Wasatch stake were working hard in the early part of August to complete all the organizations of that stake, and fill all the vacancies prior to the convention and this state of affairs is an indication of what was go- ;

ing on in nearly all the stakes of Zion. We trust that every officer will be on hand at the annual convention of his stake.

At the quarterly conference of San Juan stake, at Mancos, on the 29th and 30th of July, the assistants of Superintendent A. R. Lyman, Henry Wood and Elmer Taylor, of the Y. M. M. LA., were released to act as counselors to bishops, and in their places were sustained Edward F. Thompson, Moab, Utah, first, and Dan Christensen, Fruitland, New Mexico, second, assistant. These brethren are faithful workers, and will no doubt be of great aid to Superintendent Lyman in the cause of Mutual Improvement in that stake.

Superintendent David Bennion of the Uintah stake, writing from Vernal, August 7, says: The Y. M. M. I. A. are holding public meetings here each Sunday evening this summer, with a program of music, readings, recitations, etc., and a

regular course of lectures, and we are doing a splendid work in interesting and drawing the young people in.

On Sunday, July 12, the bishopric of the Papago ward, Maricopa stake, was reorganized. Bishop George M. Tiffany and his counselors were released with thanks for their past labors; and Isaac H. Rogers, superintendent of the Y. M. M. I. A. of that stake, was appointed to preside over the Southern Indian mission. This will necessitate a reorganization of the Y. M. M. I. A. of that stake.

On the 21st of May Elder John T. Smellie was sustained as second counselor in the stake presidency of the Taylor stake, Canada, in place of J. W. Knight, resigned, writes Elder George H. Budd, stake secretary. The stake organization of the Y. L. M. I. A. was sustained as follows, upon resignation of stake president Jennie B. Knight: Amelia H. Allred, president; Edith F. Budd and Margaret E. P. Gordon, counselors; Mary J. Duke, secretary and treasurer; with Guenever S. Brimhall organist, and Allie R. Jensen class leader.